Mountain Biking & getting stuck with the Jeep

In the old townA stuck-in-the-mud Land Rover and 2 burst tyres later, my bum hurts. Mountain Biking in the AndesMountains along Volcán Pichincha is somewhat tougher than I thought. We started at 3,200m altitude in the Andes Forrest where the trail starts cobble stoned – not perfect for my bum – did I mention that it hurts? I find out that my cute little hands are not made out for down-hill mountain biking as I can barely touch the brakes with my fingertips. Trust me, going down 1,800m in altitude over a distance of 38km, you want to be able to reach the brakes…

This is the dry season, so I am told. Not sure what rainy season means here. Maybe the preferred mode of transportation will be swimming? The day starts with a full blown rainy downpour and when I look outside I see snow on the mountains. Our mountain biking trail is therefore pretty muddy and hence the Land Rover got stuck. I didn’t know they could get stuck so easily or at all. We get helped out by a dumpster truck – what a great picture... The Land Rover swerves quite a bit on the single file road in the mud and I wasn’t amused on the drive up inside the car as the mountain drops a couple thousand meters to my right…